After appointment, a legal guardian is responsible for the child until the child reaches the age of 18. The court may terminate guardianship before this criterion if it is in the best interests of the child, if the parents are now able to care for their child, or if the legal guardian is no longer able to care for the child. This requires an application to the court, after which a hearing is held to determine whether the guardianship should be terminated. Parents seeking custody must prove that the circumstances that led to guardianship no longer exist and that the parent is now willing and capable. Applying for guardianship or custody of a child who is not yours can be a difficult process. Becoming a child`s guardian is an important responsibility that the courts take very seriously. Therefore, you should work with an experienced child protection and child custody attorney in New Jersey if you are seeking kinship guardianship. A lawyer can help you understand the rights and responsibilities as a family guardian and guide you through the process, step by step. In the case of family guardianship, a guardian may be appointed to care for a child.
Parents may lose custody and have difficulty regaining custody once it is lost. The caregiver bears the greatest responsibility for the child. Parents can still have contact, try to regain custody, or resist a lawsuit from the caregiver. Caregivers do not need to be related to a child to receive guardianship. The program is offered to those who have legal relationships with children in their care and family friends. Foster parents can also apply for the same title. Legal guardianship is more stable than foster care, which is designed as a temporary measure and involves strict government oversight of the parent-foster child relationship. However, unlike adoption, which is almost always irreversible, kinship guardianship is only effective until the child turns 18 or graduates from high school, and it remains reversible until then. If a parent is again able to care for a child and can prove this in court with clear and convincing evidence, the court will lift the guardianship if it is in the best interests of the child.
2. In July 2021, Governor Murphy signed an amended KLG statute aimed at improving family resilience and keeping families together when the state`s Department of Child Protection and Stability (CP&P) filed a lawsuit to give a child into foster care for abuse and/or neglect. KLG`s revised law prioritizes placement with relatives over non-relatives by requiring the ministry to “make reasonable efforts to place the child with an appropriate parent or person who is related to the child.” KLG`s status also reduces the period during which children and youth must remain in the care of relatives before being eligible for KLG from twelve consecutive months to six consecutive months or nine of the last fifteen months. CP&P is also no longer required to prioritize adoption over KLG if reunification has failed. Under the amended law, more children and young people are entitled to a permanent agreement from KLG and earlier. Unlike adoption, legal guardianship does not separate all rights from biological parents. Biological parents retain the right to visit the child, as well as the right to decide whether or not a child can be adopted. Birth parents also remain responsible for financially supporting the child if possible. Caregivers can ask the courts to appoint them as legal guardians of a child living with them if the child`s biological parents are unable to care for the child. Once kinship guardianship has been granted, the caregiver has the same rights and obligations as a biological parent, which extends to decisions about child custody, consent to medical treatment, parenting plans, services for the child, and responsibility for the overall well-being and safety of their child. The Kinship Navigator program can provide greater insight into the rights and responsibilities of legal guardians. Except for the above restrictions, the New Jersey Legal Guardianship Act provides that a legal guardian has the same rights, duties, and powers as a biological parent, including: Children and adolescents in kinship care also enjoy greater placement stability than minors in other placement settings, which can help improve permanency outcomes.
Academic success and development of meaningful bonds. Reducing interruptions in the placement of children in family care is linked to kinship placements that are closer to the culture of the child`s family of origin and allow children to preserve their cultural identity and community relationships. In addition, caregivers may be more willing to keep siblings together than non-related caregivers, which can provide comprehensive social and emotional support that can ease children`s transition to new housing and prevent interruptions in placement. Overall, children and youth in caregiver relationships report seeing their placement more positively, feeling more loved, and less likely to report trying to leave or run away than teens in foster care and unrelated group homes. Legal guardianship does not terminate parental rights that allow birth parents to request visits and remain financially responsible for the child. Neither the biological nor the adoptive parents have custody of their child if a court grants legal guardianship to a caregiver. However, they still have the power to consent to adoption or name change, the obligation to pay child support, and the right to visit their child. Children may continue to legally visit siblings and extended family, with the consent of the court or legal guardian. Children may also inherit from their biological or adoptive parents and receive insurance or benefits from the State through them.
Kinship care – placing children with foster parents rather than unrelated foster parents – is associated with significant benefits for children and adolescents, including improved mental and behavioural health. In particular, kinship care can help alleviate the trauma of distance when children are placed with related caregivers they know and share a relationship. As a result, children and adolescents in kinship care are less likely to experience behavioural problems than children and adolescents in other care facilities.